


Me and My Pet Rock

by underscoredom



Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, LoVe exchange, Pre-Slash, and a brief discussion on pokemons, nameless Asgardian creature
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-07
Updated: 2012-10-07
Packaged: 2017-11-15 19:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/530979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/underscoredom/pseuds/underscoredom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve spends some quality time with Loki.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Me and My Pet Rock

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilypad121](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=lilypad121).



> Written for [Lily](http://lilypad121.tumblr.com/) for the LoVe exchange! I'm sorry if it's not the quality you're looking for but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless :3

Steve woke up to Loki swatting his stomach. He squinted open an eye, the world a blur of fuzzy shapes. The swatting stopped the moment he raised he head, but that was only because Loki had sat himself on top of Steve and was craning his neck to peer back at him. Loki had his head tilted, to properly stare at him with both eyes, managing to look more curious and adorable, and then threatening. Steve smiled and placed a hand on top of Loki's head, careful as to not scrap his palm too hard against his sand paper skin.

 

His belly, flattened against his chest, was radiating so much heat. Steve felt his eyes droop, the warmth making him comfortable. He laid his head back down on his pillow and would have drifted off, if it wasn't for Loki's tail, with its jagged tip, swatting him on his stomach, this time.

 

Steve groaned.

 

"Okay, you got me. If you get off me, we can have breakfast."

 

Loki gave a low growl, affirming his consent to the idea. Steve could feel the reverberations travelling from his stomach to his chest.

 

Loki rolled off of Steve and lay on his side, watching as Steve pulled himself out of his bed, standing up to stretch, hands raised high above his bod and twisting right to left, bending to touch his toes.

 

Steve throws him a warm but tired smile before going to the bathroom, door left half open, just as it has been for past two days since it has been decided that Steve was the most qualified to take care of Loki.

 

(Natasha looked like she wouldn't care less what would happen to Loki while Bruce looked too interested in studying Loki’s physiology. Thor was completely eager, in order to make amends but his fingers, while healed, were still sore for every time Loki bit them whenever they were in the same room.  Tony brought up his non-existent allergy to alien animals.

 

"Pet!" he had corrected. "An actual living, breathing pet! Do you need me to pull up a graph on the odds of Loki's survival placed on my hands?" Pepper had agreed, with the look of someone with an actual graph readied for these occasions. Clint admitted to maybe barbequing him, if left alone with Loki).

 

Steve turned on the faucet, splashing cold water onto his face. He could hear Loki shifting on the bed, rolling uselessly, in any direction that would end up with him on the floor. There was a disadvantage to only having a pair of legs and not much else, when one was a long mass of a part-rock, part-lizard creature.

 

Soon enough, he heard a faint thud. He wiped his face with a towel before stepping out, where Loki was peering at him from the floor. He looked like a dog, flopped on his back, awaiting a belly rub. Well. If dogs had hard skin peppered with scale-like bones protruding from random spots, almost like freckles, with its head and tail looking like rock formations. Not to mention that he had yet to meet dogs that were a weird mix of greens and dark browns.

 

Steve crouched, resting his elbows on his knees. He reached out one hand and rubbed his belly, which was the only soft part of Loki’s body. Loki opened his eyes and snapped at Steve's arm, snarling when he realized he couldn't reach him. Steve scooped him up in his arms, knowing that Loki wouldn't dare ask to be carried. True enough, Loki started biting his fingers and wriggling in an attempt to get out.

 

"C'mon, let's get some breakfast before you do eat my fingers."

 

*

 

No one knew exactly what happened. They were all enjoying a passably quiet breakfast the other day when Thor came in, apologizing even though his face was pinched, as though to stop himself from laughing. In his arms, he held Loki, who looked more Pokemon (Steve was pretty sure that was the word Clint had used) than god. Steve had agreed, nodding politely, because he might not know what a Pokemon was, but Loki sure did look as strange as the word sounded. In between avoiding Loki’s fingers, Thor was able to explain that he had walked in on Loki practicing a spell and somewhere along the way, the spell had gone wrong, backfiring on Loki.

 

Steve hadn't quite caught the name of the creature Loki had turned into— definitely something stranger than Pokemon— but apparently, the spell was short term enough that Thor didn't think it Loki needed to be sent to Asgard to reverse the spell.

 

At which point Loki had growled, slamming his tail against Thor. Thor bit his lip but had looked quite amused at Loki's attempt to escape.

 

Loki had smacked him harder.

 

Of course, then, Clint had thought it appropriate to bring up what he thought was the significant part of the discussion. He had leaned back; feet propped on the edge of Bruce's seat, and looked at Loki with a genuinely curious stare.

 

"So. If Loki’s a Pokemon, what type would he be?"

 

That led to an interesting discussion between him and Bruce, with Natasha picking no one's side but contradicting both their points anyway. Loki seemed to have given up with Thor and had taken to their conversation, head tilted. When they figured Thor and Steve weren't getting anything, the discussion dissolved into a marathon.

 

In hindsight, Steve should have probably been more concerned on how accepting they were on Thor bringing Loki to the tower as a refuge until the spell wore off. Then again, Loki's wonky relationship with Thor (and the Avengers in general) tended to be taken in stride these days; no one voiced their suspicions anymore whenever Loki would offer his services, having gone through that routine one too many times.

 

Thor was looking woeful by the time Ash had rescued Pikachu from a bird, hugging Loki close to him.

 

"Thor, you might want to let go of your brother," Steve had suggested. Thor nodded and placed him on his lap. Loki seemed satisfied and moved, sluggishly, into Steve's lap instead, curling his tail around himself.

 

When Steve reached out to pat Loki's head, he received a thwap from his tail in return.

 

*

 

"Rogers, get your pet off the table."

 

Loki growled, barring teeth while Steve rolled his eyes at Tony, who was more irritable without his caffeine.

 

"He's not harming you," Steve said, jabbing his fork in the air as he made his point. It was true; Loki lay on the table but he mostly curled around Steve's plate. Loki wouldn't let Steve feed him but he did snack on the food Steve pushed aside for him.

 

"But he could." To prove Tony's point, Loki raised his tail, swished it in Tony direction and snapped his teeth. Tony narrowed his eyes.

 

"Did you see that?" Tony hissed.

 

"See what?" Steve asked, attention already back to the newspaper. This time, when he patted Loki, Loki wrapped his tail around Steve's arm and simply held on.

 

*

 

Steve spent the rest of his day hanging out at the landing deck, lazing around with Loki. Whatever he had turned into, Thor had told Steve that they tended to seek sunlight, often in the gardens of Asgard. Steve couldn't tell if this was the animal side of Loki acting out or if it was the god himself. After all, Steve had never really seen Loki this relaxed. There was always this line of tension holding him up. Right now, he seemed almost spineless, the way he lay slumped on his side, tail hanging off the edge. Steve sat next to him, with his sketchpad, a set of charcoal and a view of Manhattan to keep him occupied.

 

"Hey, I just realized something," Steve said as he shaded in a profile he had done of Peggy. "I think this is the longest we've spent time with each other." It's true. Loki usually spent more time with Tony and Bruce, the three of them always fascinated by the incorporation of magic and science. He hardly stayed for briefs and never stayed for after mission meals, no matter how many times Thor insisted.

 

Loki didn't respond but, a few minutes later, Steve felt him butt his head against his leg. Whatever that meant for Loki, Steve'll choose to interpret that as Loki agreeing and not seeing it as a bad thing.

 

A few moments later, Steve started drawing Loki. He drew him from memory, from one of those rare moments when Thor had made a joke and Loki had given him a small smile in return. Although it was still in its initial sketches, Steve showed it to him anyway. Loki gave it contemplative look and seemed to approve before he went back to closing his eyes.

 

*

 

Steve looked up from his book as thunder rumbled. Despite the downpour of rain, Thor and Clint invited him to go out on the roof but Steve declined. They shrugged and trotted off, but not without Steve reminding them not to stay out too long.

 

"Aye, Captain," Thor had agreed but it was Clint who'd scrunched up his nose and said, "Yes, mom."

 

Thor had also attempted to pet Loki and had, for once, succeeded. Thor grinned and bid Loki good-bye, leaving him from his spot on the carpeted floor.

 

But that had been an hour ago and Loki had yet to move.

 

Steve frowned. This was the longest Loki had gone without moving and it was starting to worry him. He moved beside Loki, taking light steps.

 

"Loki," Steve called out but Loki didn't acknowledge his presence, not even by opening his eyes. Steve pressed the back of his hand against Loki's face. Nothing. Taking a guess, he rolled Loki to his side and pressed the same hand to his belly.

 

It was too cold for comfort.

 

"Damn," Steve murmured, cradling Loki in his arms. "You could have told me." Loki made a grumbling sort of noise.

 

Steve carried Loki to his room, where he made a nest of his blankets. He placed Loki in the middle of it, making sure to wrap him comfortably. He grabbed for one of his thicker sweaters before joining Loki on the bed.

 

Loki was feeling better judging from the way he looked at Steve as he approached the bed. He grinned at Loki.

 

"You're probably going to hate me for this but I'd rather not have Thor's wrath on me, should anything happen to you." Loki made another grumbling sound but let Steve slip the sweater over him. Loki wriggled his head through the hole, twisting around until he was comfortable.

 

Steve set his pillows so he could lean against them comfortable and pulled Loki against him. Loki growled and struck him with his tail but the fact that his strikes were weak made Steve hold on tighter.

 

"Loki, stop. This'll help warm you up. The sooner you're warm enough, the sooner I can let you go." That got to stop Loki from moving, although Steve could still feel him tense against him.

 

Steve wrapped them both under his blanket. He reached for the remote and turned on the television, switching to CNN, volume set to low. Steve hardly watched television, relying on his team mates to advise him on what he should see. The television was mostly on as background noise, something to keep him company.

 

Once settled, he turned his attention back to Loki. He had Loki tucked against him, Steve's chin lightly resting on top of Loki's head. He loosened his grip on Loki while he ran his other hand all over Loki, fingers kneading and caressing. He felt Loki finally slump, his face pressed against Steve's neck. Steve closed his eyes. Ten minutes. He'll nap for ten minutes.

 

*

 

Steve awoke to the sound of thunder crackling. What forced him to open his eyes was the distinct sound of a camera flash.

 

"Aw, you woke him up." That was Natasha, coming somewhere from his left. Steve frowned and turned to his right where Tony was talking about lighting and the lack of it. Behind Tony, Bruce mouthed an apology at Steve.

 

"Whu-?" he asked. He tried to get up but it was hard, when he had a god using him as a pillow.

 

"What?" he asked again.

 

"Steve. We heard a loud crack coming from your room. Uhm. Looks like Loki's spell wore off," Bruce said.

 

"And look at how adorable you two are being!" Tony cackled with glee. He then covered his mouth so as not to wake up Loki, who was still clutching him. It struck Steve that, apart from the sweater, Loki was naked. Uhm indeed. Thank god they hadn't kick off the blanket in their sleep.

 

"Don't worry, we sent Clint a picture," Natasha said. Steve groaned and flopped his head back. He'd cover his eyes with his arms but both of them were trapped under Loki and he was not going to tell the others that.

 

"As long as he doesn't show Thor," he said instead. That causes Tony to smother another laugh.

 

"Yeah, will that be before or after he burns his eyes out for the image?" Both Natasha and Bruce punched him, causing Tony to yelp.

 

"Too noisy."

 

They all froze, looking at Loki. Apart from speaking, he gave no indication that he was awake.

 

"Any time you guys want to help me out," Steve said. Tony laughed but made a move to grip Loki.

 

"No," Loki spoke up again. "Still comfortable. Don't move."

 

The room fell silent as Steve exchanged looks with the three others. Finally, Natasha spoke up.

 

"Well Steve, I hate to break it to you but, looks like you're on your own." Tony and Bruce nodded. The three of them backed away, quickly but quietly. The doors did nothing to hide Tony’s laughter.

 

"Bastards," Steve yelled after them. He heard Tony reply back not waking Loki up, his yell muffled. On top of him, Loki shifted; Steve could feel him frown against his neck.

 

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," he added. Loki huffed out a small laugh.

 

"Go back to sleep, Steve. We should savor the peace before my brother finds out about this."

 

"That's not a comforting thought," Steve replied although he closed his eyes.

 

"It's not meant to be," Loki said. He allowed Steve to free his arms and made a content sound when Steve chose to wrap his hands around him.


End file.
